I loved Transformers as a kid and collect a few of their Masterpiece figures. So when I saw Hasbro/Takara tackling a full planet transforming Unicron, I was floored. It's massive, impressive and will make a magnificent centerpiece standing at 27" in height and weighing in at a whopping 19 lbs. Add that it will have over 50 points of articulation, transform and look close to the movie? Dang, I want this thing so badly!

Of course, I then see Hasbro/Takara put this up for crowdfunding and asking for 8,000 backers by the end of August to support this massive project. Ok, I'll bite... how much? … $575USD … not including taxes and shipping … really? … okay … yeah, not happening! Ouch. That's way too rich for my blood as that will push this close to $900CAD after factoring all the other costs involved in getting it here. For a single collectible toy done by a large toy company, that's pretty steep and hitting premium statue pricing territory. Yeah, they just priced me right out of the hobby with this thing.

Actually, I'll be putting out a full stop on my Transformers collecting when MP-44 Optimus Prime v3 hits the market. This one pretty much knocked me out of collecting the line altogether. I mean $350CAD for it... that's pretty steep as it is. Considering that MP-10 Optimus Prime v2 only cost me a fraction of the cost back then. Even Bandai's SoC line is getting pretty costly. Though in all honesty, I really hate how Bandai treats and screws collectors as well. I mean I get up at 3am for their PO madness (and yes, it's utterly insane and down right frustrating) and still come out empty handed in the end. It's frustrating that I get cart jacked trying to complete my PO and these things sell out in a few minutes. I'm pretty much done with them once the Lion and Vehicle Voltrons hit the market.

At the rate things are going at, I'll probably be more picky on the things I'll collect and start dropping lines I've collected over the years altogether. Costs are really becoming prohibitive in most cases and I guess it's time to re-evaluate the hobby as a whole.

Sorry for the long post. Just had to get this out of me as it was getting to be a bit depressing. LOL

I feel your pain, doodlehobby. If it wasn’t for certain custom figures, I’d probably already be out. Your Transformer dilemma reminds me of the Hasbro Return of the Jedi Sail Barge — which I believe cost the small number of people who bought it $1200. TWELVE. HUNDRED. DOLLARS!! Are you f#$&ing kidding me?! For a kid’s toy?! (I know, I know — despite it being made for the 3.75” figures, it really wasn’t made “for kids”; that still doesn’t justify that price for a cheap piece of plastic which probably cost less than $50 to produce). How are parents even buying toys for their kids anymore? I mean, it’s Hasbro. They don’t make high-end collectibles — how is that price even remotely within reason.

The constant price hikes in this hobby are more than a little disgusting. When the average cost of a “diecast” figure goes for $400+ (and only has a couple of pieces that are actually diecast... ) yeah, that’s insane. Sadly, as long as “collectors” who have to have all the latest “new best thing” to show how cool they are, and are willing to pay these obscene prices, the cost will never plateau or drop down to “reasonable.”

I was sort of excited about the new Premium Format Dejah Thoris by Sideshow until I saw the price. $550!!! I’m sorry, but I don’t give a flying rat’s butt how “cool” this stuff is — none of this crap (not our dolls or these statues) are “high art”. These are stupid comic book and movie characters mostly, not Michelangelo’s ‘David.” A hundred years from now, no one’s going to be looking at an Iron Man collection thinking “Oohh, this was the pinnacle of art at the beginning of the 21st century!” (That’s assuming this cheaply made, over-priced, s#$t even lasts that long — which is highly unlikely). Have I been complicit in buying this stuff — absolutely— but I have slowed down dramatically. If I’m going to pay customizer prices for figures, I’d honestly rather go to a customizer and get something unique, or cobble something together myself.

Just a few short years ago, I would have been pretty excited about a lot of stuff shown this year at SDCC, but now... all I can see is how many things I WON’T be getting due to over-inflated cost. People on the Freaks board making background aliens from Return of the Jedi are getting more of my attention than the mass-production manufacturers.

And Stryker, I really am starting to feel it already and I've barely been in the 'high end' collectibles side of things for very long at all. But yeah, that Sail Barge situation is utter nonsense. I'm actually a huge fan of the little Hasbro 3.75" figures, but I have NEVER, ever viewed them as some kind of 'high end' thing. The precise reason I like them so much is because they are toys, through and through. Therefore, I can unbox and handle them all I want without feeling like I'm wrecking something really expensive, etc, etc. I've never understood the people who buy those things and keep every single one of them in 'Mint in Box' condition, just so they can later on down the line charge ridiculous prices for tiny pieces of plastic stuck on a piece of cardboard....ugh. Of course, I might keep a couple of rarer figs on their cards, or I might leave some carded if I like the artwork on the cards, etc. But to view these things point blank as something one can charge £100s or even £1000's for, is still quite baffling to me.

And of course, I agree with you on the increasingly astronomical prices of the actual higher-end stuff, too. It's crazy. I would like to think there is a certain point at which even the 'look at me!' collectors will reach their limit, but who knows. :/ In the meantime, I do think the only recourse is the various off-brand knockoffs, or, as you say, going the custom [either commissions or doing it yourself] route to actually get your money's worth.

While I cannot speak to the state of the Transformers side of things as I am completely out of the loop of that type of collecting, it sounds very 'cutthroat' and competitive, which is something that tends to turn me off and sends me running the other way. It's not even about the £££, but rather the fact that this is not what this hobby is about for me. It shouldn't be a source of stress, but rather something that provides a fun escape from the stress of RL. Maybe others might thrive on the constant worry and competition, but for me, nothing would kill my enthusiasm faster.

I hope you can find other, less-stressful collecting areas to focus on, doodlehobby. Though as GF noted, this issue seems to affect almost every type of collecting these days...

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"The happy ending of the fairy tale, the myth, and the divine comedy of the soul, is to be read, not as a contradiction, but as a transcendence of the universal tragedy of man."

Focusing on the Prequels, Clone Wars, and Original Trilogy eras (NO 'sequels', thanks!)

Exactly Stryker. Feel free to rant and let it out big guy. We need that now and then. LOL

It is totally frustrating to experience and see. This thing coming from Hasbro (known to cheap out for max profit and put in the least minimal effort/materials) with that price just hit the WTF territory. Right now (not surprisingly), it has over 1k backers. Well, best of luck to them on that. LOL I can't justify that coming from a mega toy company that uses cheap plastics and tight tolerances that can lead to breaking the toy. At least with Transformers, you got plenty of third party unofficial options. Wonder if one of them will tackle this monstrosity... that will be interesting to see.

Bandai on the other hand, it's not just the cost is creeping up... it's their (very) limited production runs that p*ss me off. They know how popular some of the properties and lines are and still like shafting collectors with their limited runs. Macross is the worst of them as it can only be found in Japan (due to HG holding rights here and issuing cease and desist orders to stores that want to carry Macross products from Japan - won't go into that further as that is another can of worms LOL).

If I want a chance to even get one, I have to lose sleep, set my alarm a few minutes before the live date (~2-3am) and start logging in to the shops I have accounts with. Then it's the insane and utter madness of fighting the overloaded servers and thousands of other collectors/scalpers trying to buy the product. Yes, scalpers, another can of worms considering they flip the product for greater than double the cost of MSRP. After failing on my last PO night, I'm giving Bandai the finger. Not even 5 minutes in, I got cart jacked and the infinite loading circle. Crashes at checkout and when I do get there, it's SOLD OUT. And Bandai is also known to shaft retailers by scaling their allotment back at times and in turn retailers cancelling some collector's POs. Yeah, that's just fun to deal with.

This is another reason POs go out fast in other retailers. Collectors are purchasing multiple copies to ensure they got one secure order in (and some like purchasing multiple copies). They don't want to get Bandai'd. LOL

On a side note, I did find this... a modernized look to Arcee. Just don't like the soft breasts it's rumored to have. I rather it be a hard plastic as I fear a rubberized chest will disintegrate especially with a transforming toy. But something I am definitely interested in. LOL

Skywalkersaga, that is the sad truth with this hobby. Costs are constantly going up and eventually it'll price even the diehard of collectors out of the hobby.